https://api.constructiononline.com/api/v2/estimates
This endpoint allows users to create a new estimate for a project in their ConstructionOnline company account. If successful, the endpoint will return a record of the newly created estimate. The new estimate will be automatically assigned a unique numerical ID called 'ID', which will be used for any future references. The required fields for this endpoint include a name and related project ID; all other properties are optional and can be entered during estimate creation or updated at a later time. Users must enter the properties for creation in the payload/body of the request.
Please note: estimates can only be created for existing projects or opportunities in ConstructionOnline. If a specific project/opportunity ID is not included in the request, the estimate creation will fail. Additionally, each project/opportunity is limited to ONE estimate at a time. To create a new estimate for a project/opportunity with an existing estimate, users must delete the original estimate first.
If the `ADVANCED_ESTIMATE` and/or `FIVE_COLUMN_ESTIMATE` fields are not included in the creation request, they will default to `FALSE`.
Requests
- Required properties: NAME, PROJECT_ID
- Allowed properties: ADVANCED_ESTIMATE, FIVE_COLUMN_ESTIMATE, TOTAL_PRICE, CATS, COMS
- CATS:
- Required properties: NAME
- Allowed properties: DESCRIPTION, COST_CODE, COST_CODE_ID, TRAFFIC_COLOR, BID_NOTES, NOTES_TEAMLINK, NOTES_BID, FIELD_NOTES, NOTES_CLIENTLINK, NOTES_FIELD, GENERAL_NOTES, NOTES_GENERAL, SUBCATS
- SUBCATS:
- Required properties: NAME
- Allowed properties: DESCRIPTION, COST_CODE, COST_CODE_ID, TRAFFIC_COLOR, BID_NOTES, NOTES_TEAMLINK, NOTES_BID, FIELD_NOTES, NOTES_CLIENTLINK, NOTES_FIELD, GENERAL_NOTES, NOTES_GENERAL, CLASSIFICATION, STATUS, UNIT, QTY, RATE_QTY, UNIT_COST, RATE, FIVE_COLUMN_MATERIAL, FIVE_COLUMN_LABOR, FIVE_COLUMN_EQUIPMENT, FIVE_COLUMN_SUB, FIVE_COLUMN_OTHER, LINE_ITEM_MARKUP, LINE_ITEM_MARKUP_TYPE, ADJUSTMENT, ACTUAL, COMMITTED_COSTS, INVOICED_AMOUNTS, ITEMS
- ITEMS:
- Required properties: NAME
- Allowed properties: DESCRIPTION, COST_CODE, COST_CODE_ID, TRAFFIC_COLOR, BID_NOTES, NOTES_TEAMLINK, NOTES_BID, FIELD_NOTES, NOTES_CLIENTLINK, NOTES_FIELD, GENERAL_NOTES, NOTES_GENERAL, CLASSIFICATION, STATUS, UNIT, QTY, RATE_QTY, UNIT_COST, RATE, FIVE_COLUMN_MATERIAL, FIVE_COLUMN_LABOR, FIVE_COLUMN_EQUIPMENT, FIVE_COLUMN_SUB, FIVE_COLUMN_OTHER, LINE_ITEM_MARKUP, LINE_ITEM_MARKUP_TYPE, ADJUSTMENT, ACTUAL, COMMITTED_COSTS, INVOICED_AMOUNTS
- ITEMS:
- SUBCATS:
- COMS:
- Allowed properties: NAME, VALUE, MARKUP_TYPE
- Please note: If COMS is left out entirely, five default markup rows are created: Company Overhead, Company Margin, Contingency, Other 1 and Other 2. If COMS is supplied, only the supplied rows are created.
- CATS:
Individual properties for creation should be entered as JSON key-value pairs, as seen below:
{
"NAME": "API Estimate",
"PROJECT_ID":11763,
"ADVANCED_ESTIMATE": true,
"FIVE_COLUMN_ESTIMATE": false,
"CATS": [
{
"NAME": "01 - General Conditions",
"COST_CODE_ID": 1000,
"DESCRIPTION": "Site setup, supervision and temporary facilities",
"BID_NOTES": "Cat bid note - included in base bid",
"FIELD_NOTES": "Cat field note - verify site access before mobilizing",
"GENERAL_NOTES": "Cat general note - 4 week duration",
"SUBCATS": [
{
"NAME": "Project Supervision",
"COST_CODE_ID": 1010,
"DESCRIPTION": "Full-time superintendent on site",
"CLASSIFICATION": 1,
"QTY": 4,
"UNIT_COST": 2200,
"LINE_ITEM_MARKUP": 10,
"LINE_ITEM_MARKUP_TYPE": 1,
"ACTUAL": 0,
"COMMITTED_COSTS": 0,
"INVOICED_AMOUNTS": 0,
"BID_NOTES": "Subcat bid note",
"FIELD_NOTES": "Subcat field note",
"GENERAL_NOTES": "Subcat general note",
"ITEMS": [
{
"NAME": "Superintendent - weeks 1-2",
"COST_CODE_ID": 1011,
"CLASSIFICATION": 1,
"QTY": 2,
"UNIT_COST": 2200,
"LINE_ITEM_MARKUP": 0,
"LINE_ITEM_MARKUP_TYPE": 1,
"BID_NOTES": "Item bid note",
"FIELD_NOTES": "Item field note",
"GENERAL_NOTES": "Weeks 1-2 supervision"
},
{
"NAME": "Superintendent - weeks 3-4",
"COST_CODE_ID": 1012,
"CLASSIFICATION": 1,
"QTY": 2,
"UNIT_COST": 2200,
"LINE_ITEM_MARKUP": 0,
"LINE_ITEM_MARKUP_TYPE": 1,
"GENERAL_NOTES": "Weeks 3-4 supervision"
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
Example requests in cURL, C#, Python, and JavaScript can be found below:# replace {email} with the email address for your ConstructionOnline account
# {password} with your ConstructionOnline password
# {apikey} with your provided API key
# {data} with the payload for estimate creation
curl -X POST https://api.constructiononline.com/api/v2/estimates -d '{data}' -u {email}:{password} -H 'APIKey:{apikey}'
C#
/* replace {username} with the email address for your ConstructionOnline account
{password} with your ConstructionOnline password
{apikey} with your provided API key */
public string MakeRequest(string endpoint, string payload) {
string username = {username};
string password = {password};
string apiKey = {apikey};
string response = "";
var handler = new HttpClientHandler() { AutomaticDecompression = System.Net.DecompressionMethods.GZip };
using (HttpClient client = new HttpClient(handler)) {
client.BaseAddress = new Uri("http://api.constructiononline.com");
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Clear();
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Add(new MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json"));
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Authorization = new AuthenticationHeaderValue("Basic", System.Convert.ToBase64String(System.Text.Encoding.GetEncoding("ISO-8859-1").GetBytes(username + ":" + password)));
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("APIKey", apiKey);
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("Accept-Encoding", "gzip");
HttpContent content = new StringContent(payload, System.Text.Encoding.UTF32, "application/json");
response = client.PostAsync(endpoint, content).Result.ToString();
}
return response;
}
MakeRequest("api/v2/estimates");
Python
#replace {username} with the email address for your ConstructionOnline account
#{password} with your ConstructionOnline password
#{apikey} with your provided API key
import base64, requests, json
#Global Variables
apikey = {apikey}
username = {username}
password = {password}
#Functions
def makeRequest(endpoint, payload):
url = "https://api.constructiononline.com/" + endpoint
userPass = username + ":" + password
headers = {
"APIKey": apikey,
"Accept-Encoding": "gzip, deflate, br",
"Authorization": "Basic " + base64.b64encode(userPass.encode()).decode(),
}
response = requests.request("POST", url, headers=headers, data=payload)
return json.dumps(json.loads(response.text), indent=2)
#Main Program
print(makeRequest("api/v2/estimates"))
JavaScript
/* replace {username} with the email address for your ConstructionOnline account
{password} with your ConstructionOnline password
{apikey} with your provided API key */
username = '{username}';
password = '{password}';
apikey = '{apikey}';
function makeRequest(endpoint, payload) {
auth = btoa('${username}:${password}');
var myHeaders = new Headers();
myHeaders.append("APIKey", apikey);
myHeaders.append("Accept-Encoding", "gzip, deflate, br");
myHeaders.append("Authorization", "Basic ${auth}");
var requestOptions = {
method: 'POST',
body: '',
headers: myHeaders,
redirect: 'follow'
};
fetch("https://api.constructiononline.com/" + endpoint, requestOptions)
.then(response => response.text())
.then(result => console.log(result))
.catch(error => console.log('error', error));
return response;
};
makeRequest("api/v2/estimates");
Responses
200: Success
A successful request will return a 200 response with a record of the newly created estimate in the body.
A sample response and property definitions can be found here.
404: Error
The server was not able to locate the resource specified in the request.
429: Error
The user has surpassed the request rate limit for the hour, day, week, or month.
500: Error
There was an internal server error and the server was unable to complete the request.
Last updated: Sep 21, 2026